What body systems are affected by retinoblastoma?
In most children, retinoblastoma only affects the eye and does not spread to surrounding tissue. However, if a retinoblastoma is not detected early, the tumor may spread to affect the tissue surrounding the eye or other parts of the body such as the central nervous system, lymph nodes, skeleton, or lung.
What does retinoblastoma cause?
Retinoblastoma occurs when nerve cells in the retina develop genetic mutations. These mutations cause the cells to continue growing and multiplying when healthy cells would die. This accumulating mass of cells forms a tumor. Retinoblastoma cells can invade further into the eye and nearby structures.
What are the complications of retinoblastoma?
Common complications of retinoblastoma include metastasis, tumor recurrence, trilateral retinoblastoma, and subsequent neoplasms. Prognosis is generally good, and the survival rate of patients with retinoblastoma with treatment is approximately 95% in the United States.
Who is most affected by retinoblastoma?
Retinoblastoma is most common in infants and very young children. The average age of children is 2 when it is diagnosed. It rarely occurs in children older than 6. About 3 out of 4 children with retinoblastoma have a tumor in only one eye (known as unilateral retinoblastoma).
What happens if retinoblastoma goes untreated?
Untreated, retinoblastoma can spread widely: Throughout the retina. Throughout the fluid inside the eye (also called the vitreous). Large tumors may detach from the retina and break into smaller tumors, called vitreous seeds.
Can retinoblastoma spread to the brain?
Retinoblastoma can sometimes spread through the optic nerve to the brain and the spinal cord (called the central nervous system, or CNS).
What causes retinoblastoma in child?
A genetic mutation (a change in the child’s genes) causes retinoblastoma. The gene that causes retinoblastoma is called RB1. The mutation causes cells in the eye to grow uncontrollably, forming a tumor. Around 40% of the time, the child inherits the RB1 mutation from a parent (heritable retinoblastoma).
Is retinoblastoma benign or malignant?
A retinoblastoma is a malignant tumor of the retina, occurring most often in young children below 5 years. In one of three cases it is bilateral i.e., affecting both eyes.
Can retinoblastoma come back?
While it is unlikely, retinoblastoma can come back after treatment. Children are at highest risk for recurrence until age 6, but retinoblastoma can even return later in life. We carefully monitor all our patients to catch any such recurrences at the earliest stages.
Why do adults not get retinoblastoma?
[2] Adult-onset retinoblastoma is an extremely rare entity and for this reason it is usually not considered in the differential diagnosis of a retinal or intraocular mass in an adult. [2–5] In 1919, Maghy reported a well-documented retinoblastoma in a 20-year-old female.
Does retinoblastoma affect the brain?
Retinoblastoma that is in the eye only is called intraocular. Retinoblastoma that has spread from the eye to tissues around the eye or other parts of the body is called extraocular. This type of cancer is rare, but can affect the brain, spinal cord, bone marrow, or lymph nodes.
Why does my son always have red eye in photos?
The problem with red pupil reflex in photography is a common one, especially in children because of their relatively large pupils. It occurs when the flash reflects off of the blood-rich retina. If both eyes show up red, that can indicate that all is well (normal).
How does retinoblastoma affect the body?
Retinoblastoma is a type of eye cancer that affects the retina, the inner layer of the eye. Nerve cells in the retina sense light and send images to the brain and allow us to see. Retinoblastoma causes tumors (clumps of cells) to grow in the retina.
Is retinoblastoma genetic?
Almost half of children with retinoblastoma have a hereditary genetic defect associated with retinoblastoma. In other cases, it is caused by a congenital mutation in the chromosome 13 gene 13q14 ( retinoblastoma protein ).
Is eye cancer curable?
Treatment of eye cancer depends on the condition or stage of the tumor. If the tumor is already in the advance stage, the hope of either to cure the condition or regain the vision is minimal or even next to impossible. In this situation, the recommended treatment is enucleation or eye removal.
What is the cancer of the retina called?
Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye.